Summary and photos of SPUC's greatly successful youth conference

Last weekend's SPUC 7th International Pro-Life Youth and Student conference was a great success. For a full report, read "Want to see how good the 2014 SPUC youth conference was?" on SPUC's youth blog "Why I am Pro-Life". You can also see a full slideshow of photos on SPUC's new Flickr photostream. Below is a summary of all the talks taken from SPUC's live Twitter feed of the conference. We hope to post videos of all the talks and other parts of the conference on SPUC's YouTube channel in the near future.

7 March:

Opening and introduction:

Dan Blackman

• 7th SPUC Int'l Pro-Life Youth conference, starting this eve in Telford and concluding Sun, is fully-booked. Live tweets of conf to follow.
• Good evening from start of the 7th SPUC International Pro-life Youth conference, Telford, England. Great venue, nice dinner & now 1st talk.
• SPUC's Anthony McCarthy introducing our youth conference. Conference serves youth, to educate them & help advance cause of truth. #prolife
• Robin Haig, SPUC's chairman, encouraging dialogue & networking between #prolife youth. New ideas, new friendships will result.
• Dan Blackman, SPUC youth officer, encourages #prolife youth to train as SPUC speakers in schools, using our modern presentation.

SPUC School's talk, given by Huda Alfardus:

Huda Alfardus

• Huda Alfardus, Nottingham student, now giving SPUC schools presentation. Slavery precursor of abortion: unborn deemed non-persons.
• Human beings genetically complete at conception (fertilisation); separate, unique, human. Heart, spine, limbs, brain etc forms very rapidly.
• "Foetus", medical term for unborn child at 9 weeks, is Latin for "little one". Movement in womb, taste, hair etc all develop quickly now.
• Facts from Langman's Medical Embryology, 2004. Despite these moving facts, 200k abortions in UK p.a. Abortion methods chilling.
• RU486 chemical abortion designed to kill baby & expel his/her body. Mother involved in whole process, which is very traumatic, admit makers.
• Abortion in Britain allowed in law up to birth since 1990, including of disabled babies. #discrimination
• Morning-after pill can cause early abortions. Makers say 1 mode of action is to prevent implantation, thus killing newly-conceived embryos.
• Mother's health & wellbeing harmed by abortion. Possible risks may incl. blood loss, infertility, breast cancer, emotional harm→suicide.
• Over 500 abortions every day in Britain. We never judge women who have abortions, but give them truth, support, alternatives. #LoveThemBoth
• Huda is Princeton-educated geneticist. Young, brave, educated #prolife woman.

Bumper Pro-Life Quiz

Now Bumper #Prolife Pub Quiz! Heavyweight speakers tomorrow.

8 March:

Good morning from 2nd day of 7th SPUC Int'l Pro-life Youth Conference, Telford, England. Great pub quiz last night and top breakfast!

Top Catholic academic Dr William Newton on 'Contraception and Abortion: Humanae Vitae and Evangelium Vitae".

Dr William Newton

• Fact: Big increase in contraceptive use was paralled by big increase in abortion in Spain, Turkey etc.
• Contraceptive mentality is: more sex, no kids. Leads to unplanned kids being seen as unwanted, thus leveraging abortion.
• Contraception not practical solution to abortion, let alone moral solution.
• Contraception is a game-changer in how society thinks about sex, human life, the person, science and morality.
• Contraception trivialises sex by removing the profound aspect of it, which is procreation.
• Contraception leads to people taking risks with sex, and sleeping with people they wouldn't want to have children with. More teen pregnancy
• Contraception enculturates mentality that pregnancy is like a disease. If "drug" of contraception fails, one kills the "disease" (unborn)
• Contraception treats humans as if they are animals e.g. sterilising them if they breed too much. Tells people they can't control themselves
• Science increasingly uninterested in question of its relationship with common good. Contraception wants power to neuter (not aid) nature.
• In teaching of moral theology in most Catholic colleges, contraception is core issue which has corrupted thinking about moral absolutes.
• Connection of the virtues: Lack of temperance inherent in contraception leads to selfishness, removes motivation to be sexually selfless.
• Moral blindness caused by selfishness of contraceptive (i.e. loveless) sex, porn etc leads to failure to recognise humanity of the unborn.
• Deep logical links between contraception and abortion.

Dr Helen Watt of Anscombe Bioethics Centre on "Cooperation with evil: how to think about the issue"

Dr Helen Watt

• Pro-lifers must remember: ends don't justify means. All our intentions must be good, not just some. One area of concern: abortion law reform
• Regulation of legal abortion (as distinct from selective banning of some abortions) inevitably involves formal cooperation in evil. Wrong to tell women how to prepare for abortion, says Dr Watt
• Material (as distinct from formal) cooperation in evil often (but not always) wrong. Depends on how close and on goods/harms at stake.
• Avoiding scandal (e.g. giving impression of weak/absent opposition to abortion) requires prudence. Again, can depend on closeness/remoteness
• Matters what type of people we become through our actions. Aim to follow our vocation w/out wrongful cooperation in evil, concludes Dr Watt.

Q&A with Dr Newton and Dr Watt:

• Natural family planning (NFP) differs from contraception because NFP is open to life, simply making use of infertile part of cycle.
• Extra-marital sex endemic in today's world, partly due to contraception. Illicit sex common in some eras, but esp. rampant today.
• Contraception leads to dualistic view of human person, denying essential unity of soul and body.
• Contraceptive sex doesn't give full soul-body union to sexual partner. Also, gift of fertility to spouse different to other gifts to others.
• Dr Helen Watt: Men have everything to do with abortion because they have everything to do with how women get pregnant.
• Very important to provide emotional support to women considering abortion or post-abortion, says Dr Helen Watt.

RT @CCFather: Bernie reports from @spucprolife youth conference: excellent morning, esp William Newton.

Robin Haig, SPUC chairman, ex-chairman of Association of Lawyers in Defence of the Unborn (ALDU), dispelling myths re British abortion law:

Robin Haig

• Myths: all abortion banned before '67, when abortion legalised. Facts: some abortion allowed '40s - '60s, abortion still crime in law.
• Children of women who considered but didn't choose abortion have thanked SPUC for saving their lives. SPUC gave support, love. U can too.

Dr Thomas Ward on "Parents, the first pro-life teachers":

Dr Thomas Ward

• Pays tribute to SPUC as unrivalled in Europe in importance for pro-life
• UN Declaration of Human Rights upholds parents' rights as primary educators as safeguard vs child indoctrination e.g. Nazi schooling.
• Saul Alinsky was anti-family radical who dedicated book to Satan. Obama, Hillary Clinton are Alinsky's disciples.
• Other anti-family radicals: Karl Marx, Lady Helen Brook. Agenda: take away children from parents' influence and give them to State instead.
• Enemies of pro-life know that parents as 1st educators are bulwarks vs abortion agenda. Pro-life movement slow to catch-up with this fact.
• Unlike pro-aborts, pro-lifers slow to realise that culture of death is underlined by contraception and homosexuality as well as abortion
• Dr Tom Ward to young pro-lifers: don't make same mistakes of previous generations in ignoring role of parents.
• Apart from a few brave bishops past & present, most bishops have failed to protect parents, thus damaging individual families, says Dr Ward.
• In Germany, home-schooling families arrested, children taken away, forced into exile. Good parents just protecting their kids from bad ideas
• Parents will become victims of the very ideas which they treat with indifference. John Paul II: all policies for the family, not at its cost

RT @spucscotland: Project Truth stall @ the SPUC Youth Conference pic.twitter.com/KDwp6ohyIl

Project Truth stall

John-Henry Westen, co-founder & editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com, on "Sexuality: Communicating the truth with love"

John-Henry Westen

• Pro-abortion and anti-family movements have long been cooperating. Media totally misrepresenting prayer vigils as angry, condemnatory.
• Young pro-lifers called to be heroic, just like good people during the Holocaust. Abortion holocaust: 10s of millions killed every year.
• Both founders of LifeSiteNews.com used to live pro-abortion, sexually liberal lifestyle.Soon realised it was a narrow hell.
• Pro-life message of love for both mother and child is having beautiful effect.
• Women like http://www.rebeccakiessling.com have found love, healing, hope in #prolife cause. Pro-lifers using love to move beyond standard debates
• Pro-family movement is movement of love, though unpopular; gets false accusations of "hatred", "bigotry"; also anti-faith hostility.
• Satan attacks married love cos God has made married love the exemplar of Heaven.
• Cardinal Ratzinger told US bishops: pro-abortion politicians must be denied Holy Communion, out of love for their souls and truth re life.
• Love is the easiest way for pro-lifers to get through to our opponents, esp. those hurt by harmful lifestyles (abortion, homosexuality etc)
• Printers, sports presenters et al. in Canada being sacked for not going along with gay agenda. Some Catholic bishops complicit in agenda.

RT @crismunozbe: Around 140 young adults attending the Youth Prolife Conference at Telford,England cc @spucprolife

Panel discussion on male & female perspectives on abortion. Fiorella Nash, John-Henry Westen, Robin Haig, Anthony Ozimic (chair)

Anthony Ozimic

• Many men hurt, angry, emasculated by partner's abortion. Women patronised by abortion lobby, as incapable of responsible motherhood.
• Abortion providers doling out operations, pills, drugs, devices which give men cover, excuses to abuse women further. Women deserve better.

Dr Helen Watt and Anthony McCarthy, mock debate on "Is abortion always wrong?":

• Dr Watt giving #prolife side. Pregnant women = mothers
• Society must change to accommodate fertility, not make women non-mothers to fit society's perceived needs.
• Anthony McCarthy giving (mock) pro-abortion side
• Pro-aborts argue not all human beings are persons. Right to life not in play for unborn cos not persons.
• Argument: direct abortions and double effect causing of miscarriage not really that different, so why not give jail time for both? Dr Helen Watt to reply
• Distinction between killing and letting die. Legitimate choices about resource allocation not intentional homicide.
• Mock debate now going through arguments around twinning, ensoulment. Aquinas good on soul-body but used now-outdated embryology
• Ethical use of double-effect re abortion requires strong justification. Is pregnancy a special case?
• Dr Helen Watt now answering question by rebutting Judith Jarvis Thompson's famous violinist scenario. Pregnancy very different situation.
• Abortion is a violent separation of child from mother, not simply decision not to support another's life. Abortion = deliberate bodily assault on child.
• If unborn was not a human being, it couldn't develop those capacities which are identifiably human. Mother's body welcomes human being.
• Argument that unborn human is parasite never used by scientists to describe unborn of animal species. Shows anti-human bias.
• Religious arguments not essential to show wrongness of abortion but can help give deeper, broader context for understanding wrongness.

Eve Farren

Now hearing from Eve Farren of the Alliance of Pro-Life Students; SPUC Scotland's Project Truth and pro-life roadshow.

SPUC's Pro-Life Chains on 27 April, anniversary of Abortion Act coming into effect. Call SPUC on 020 7091 7091 for more info.

RT @AdamCC92: SPUC conference has been absolutely amazing! They do such great work

Ceilidh (Irish dancing)

9 March:

Good morn. from SPUC's 7th Int'l Pro-Life Youth conference, Telford, England. Great dinner & dancing last nite, religious services this a.m.

Fr Tony Kiely

SPUC's Fiorella Nash on "Men and abortion".

Fiorella Nash

• Abortion centre staff have reported horror stories re reality of killing babies.
• RU486 is hit-and-run abortion, leaving women to deal with the appalling trauma of delivery & disposal of dead baby.
• Men suffering from partners' abortions of their children, mocked by pro-abortion feminists. Depression, substance abuse, helplessness.
• "Silent No More" help both men & women after abortion experience. One Army veteran: "I still grieve for [my aborted son]." Lost chances.
• Abortion leads to relationship breakdown, contrary to promises of abortion advocates. Denial of abortion loss common early-stage bereavement
• How should men work to stop abortion? Live life of personal integrity, not selective morality, don't sleep around, don't abandon women
• Be with women during crisis pregnacies; speak respectfully to and about women; be confident in giving pro-life opinion, show compassion
• Be concerned about common good; work with others; find common ground; don't be scared
• Be bold, be active, be compassionate, be a man.

RT @JackStukel: People like Fiorella Nash restore my faith in human sanity and compassion @spucprolife #fourthwave #feminism

Patrick Buckley on "Ireland and the Global Pro-Abortion Agenda"

Pat Buckley (right) with Irish delegates

• John Smeaton, SPUC's chief exec, now introducing Pat Buckley, SPUC's man in Ireland; with Peter C Smith, one of SPUC's representatives at UN
• Nuremberg trials declared abortion (whether voluntary or forced) to be "crime against humanity", "act of extermination"
• UN human rights declarations, conventions etc actually protect unborn children from abortion but pro-aborts at UN misrepresent them
• John Paul II, who lived thru Nazi occupation, said pro-abortion culture of death is more insidious & evil than Nazi culture of death
• Ruling of Euro Court of Human Rights in Tysiac v Poland case was used later in same court in A, B & C case to pressure Ireland over abortion
• PM Enda Kenny broke pre-election promise not to legislate to allow abortion. Pro-abortion lies re Savita case increased pressure on Dail
• New Irish abortion law allows abortion up to birth in some cases; forces medics & hospitals to be complicit in abortion.Pro-abortion, anti-family Estrela report in Euro Parliament was defeated cos it exceeded Euro Parl's competence, plus big pro-life push-back
• Pro-abortion lobby identifies Catholic Church, esp. Holy See delegation at UN, as main roadblock to advance of global anti-life agenda

Heartfelt thanks to Pat Buckley & Peter C Smith for their sterling work at UN for SPUC & helping Holy See et al. to fight for life & family

John Smeaton, SPUC's chief executive, on "The Pro-Life Battle"

John Smeaton

• Thanked youth delegates from Romania, US, Scotland. Youth part of pro-life movement much more advanced 2day
• Some pro-life orgs (incl. SPUC in past) wasted efforts arguing for wrong legislation e.g. compromise bills. Let's never make mistake again.
• As Dr William Newton showed, contraceptive mentality is at root (not merely fruit) of culture of death e.g. abortion.
• SPUC defended pro-life counsellors when they were spied upon & defamed by pro-abortion groups via media fellow-travellers.
• Right that SPUC concerned re what happens in Catholic Church b/c Church incl. some great clergy gives great strength to pro-life movement
• Obama made abortion promotion worldwide, incl. to schoolchildren thru sex ed, one of his 1st priorities. We need strong RC Church to help us
• Pro-life orgs can't defeat culture of death on our own. We need global strength & reach of Catholic Church leadership to back us solidly
• Theologians who dissent from Catholic teaching on abortion undermine pro-life fight. Failure of bishops to discipline them thus harms cause.
• Youth called 2 speak truth 2 power, secular or religious. Need 4 declaration of total resistance 2 abortion. Emergency calls 4 open prayer.
• Some courageous pro-life bishops: Davies of Shrewsbury, Egan of Portsmouth, Olmsted of Phoenix.
• "Work with the spirit you danced with last nite in the ceilidh and you'll dance with your grandchildren", John Smeaton to SPUC prolife youth

RT @nickmurf: Fantastic weekend at @spucprolife youth conference! Met great people who are paving the road toward a pro-life society.

Nick Murphy @nickmurf

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Politicians who vote for abortion should not receive Communion, says Bishop Egan

Bishop Egan has spoken out on Communion for politicians who vote in favour of abortion or same-sex marriage in a wide-ranging interview with John-Henry Westen, editor in chief of LifeSite News.

“We need to discuss this as a bishops’ conference,” he said. “I’ve already indicated to you my sympathies – if somebody is not in communion with the Catholic Church they should not be receiving Communion.”

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Stonewall hijacks legitimate parents' concerns to promote homosexual rights agenda

Antonia Tully of Safe at School

Following press reports last week that the homosexual rights group Stonewall is sending a dvd to all primary schools, Antonia Tully has written today to Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, asking him to ensure that primary schools show the film to parents first so that they can protect their children.

Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
20 Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BT 13 March 2014

Dear Mr Gove,

Stonewall dvd “Free”

SPUC Safe at School, a campaigning group which upholds the rights of parents to be the primary educators of their children on sexual matters, has raised concerns about the new Stonewall dvd aimed at primary schools and which press reports suggest will be sent to every primary school.

It is disturbing that Stonewall has produced a highly professional film, carefully pitched at primary-age children, ostensibly about bullying and discrimination, but which carry secondary messages about gender identity and family structures.

I urge you to ensure that all primary schools screen this film to parents before showing it to any children. There should also be full disclosure to parents that the dvd has been produced by a homosexual rights group.

The plot lines in the dvd focus on a four-parent family, the difficulties faced by a girl who'd prefer to act as a boy and those of  a boy who prefers drama to football and a boy whose older brother is gay. These four scenarios are designed to subtly prompt young children to think about issues which would not come naturally to them.  For children, a little girl who likes to be an Indian chief is simply that. To load this with sly messages about what it means to be female is at best a distraction for children and at worst frustrates normal child development.      

Parents are entitled to protect their children from this film, as this should only be screened in non-compulsory PSHE. Parents may consider that the messages in this film run counter to the values they wish to teach their children and/or they may not want these issues intruding into their children's lives.

Bullying in schools is a serious issue, but why is it being left to a homosexual rights group to speak out on this and resource schools? “Free” is not giving a balanced presentation of bullying. Children are bullied for a whole range of reasons.  Stonewall appears to be hi-jacking legitimate concerns about bullying in schools to promote their agenda.

The interest of the homosexual lobby in schools is not exclusive to this country.  So-called anti-bullying legislation is being used to impose a homosexual agenda in parts of Canada and the USA. The July 2012 Ontario Accepting Schools Act was ostensibly about eradicating bullying but is in reality a vehicle for promoting homosexuality in schools. The law requires, among other things, that all schools, including faith schools, must permit homosexual clubs for pupils.

Last month the 2010 anti-bullying law in Massachusetts, was amended to focus specifically on homosexual issues rather than issues related to the general population of students.

Anti-bullying legislation has not been introduced in this country, but there seems to be a consistent tactic to use bullying as a smokescreen to divert attention from the wider homosexual agenda infiltrating schools.

One again, I urge you to ensure that all primary schools give full disclosure parents about this film.

Yours sincerely,

Antonia Tully
SPUC Safe at School

Primary schools should show homosexual bullying film to parents before screening it to children

Stonewall's film for primary schools

SPUC's Safe at School campaign will urge the Secretary of State for Education to direct all primary schools to show a new homosexual bullying film to every parent before it is screened to their children. The film, entitled "Free", has been produced by Stonewall, the homosexual rights group, which plans to send the film to every primary school in Britain (see today's edition of "Metro", the free London newspaper).

Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator of Safe at School, told the media earlier today:

"Parents should see this film before it is shown to their children. It is disingenuous to bill this film as a resource to crack down on bullying. Of course we want to see an end to bullying in schools, but bullying has become a smokescreen for promoting homosexuality to young, impressionable children.

Most parents want their children to learn that all bullying is wrong. This film risks giving children a disproportionate message about homophobic bullying, and other types of bullying could get over-looked. Schools and parents should be aware that this film is yet another vehicle to normalise same-sex relationships in the minds of very young children."

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SPUC's letter urging Belgium's King not to sign the child euthanasia bill

King Philippe and his family

On 17 February, Robin Haig, SPUC's chairman, and myself wrote to King Philippe of Belgium, urging him not to sign the bill passed by Belgian's parliament which would allow the euthanasia of children. The full text of the letter is below.

His Majesty King Philippe of the Belgians

Palais de Bruxelles

Rue Brederode 16

B-1000 Brussels

Belgium

17 February 2014

Sire,

Law for euthanasia of children

We write, on behalf of the tens of thousands of members and supporters of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, to express our  distress, which you no doubt share, at the recent passage of the law through the Belgian Parliament permitting euthanasia for children.

Critics of the law have engaged in discussion over whether a child can be mature enough to make such a decision. We go further and say that no law should permit innocent human beings to be killed. Such a law, which may appear to require that strict respect for legality is maintained, is in reality a rejection of our patrimony: of human rights, democracy and our duty to the weaker members of society.

As the late Pope Blessed John-Paul II said of abortion and euthanasia:

These attacks go directly against respect for life and they represent a direct threat to the entire culture of human rights. It is a threat capable, in the end, of jeopardizing the very meaning of democratic coexistence: rather than societies of "people living together", our cities risk becoming societies of people who are rejected, marginalized, uprooted and oppressed. (Evangelium Vitae, 18)

The late Holy Father continued:

The State is no longer the “common home” where all can live together on the basis of principles of fundamental equality, but is transformed into a tyrant State, which arrogates to itself the right to dispose of the life of the weakest and most defenceless members, from the unborn child to the elderly, in the name of a public interest which is really nothing but the interest of one part. The appearance of the strictest respect for legality is maintained, at least when the laws permitting abortion and euthanasia are the result of a ballot in accordance with what are generally seen as the rules of democracy. Really, what we have here is only the tragic caricature of legality; ….  (Evangelium Vitae, 19)

This great defender and vindicator of European democracy went on to say:

Fundamentally, democracy is a “system” and as such is a means and not an end. Its “moral” value is not automatic, but depends on conformity to the moral law to which it, like every other form of human behaviour, must be subject: in other words, its morality depends on the morality of the ends which it pursues and of the means which it employs. (Evangelium Vitae, 70)

Such “laws” are thus described by Blessed John-Paul as an attack on the culture of human rights, a caricature of legality, and a threat to democracy’s moral validity.  Blessed John-Paul also said:

In the Encyclical Pacem in Terris, John XXIII pointed out that “it is generally accepted today that the common good is best safeguarded when personal rights and duties are guaranteed. The chief concern of civil authorities must therefore be to ensure that these rights are recognized, respected, co-ordinated, defended and promoted, and that each individual is enabled to perform his duties more easily. For ‘to safeguard the inviolable rights of the human person, and to facilitate the performance of his duties, is the principal duty of every public authority’. Thus any government which refused to recognize human rights or acted in violation of them, would not only fail in its duty; its decrees would be wholly lacking in binding force”. (Evangelium Vitae, 71)

The footnote to Evangelium Vitae here notes that Pope John XXIII was in turn quoting from Pius XII’s  Radio Message of Pentecost 1941 (1 June 1941). It goes on to note that Pacem in Terris cites Pius XII’s  wartime Encyclical Letter Mit brennender Sorge  and his Christmas Radio Message (24 December 1942).

Thus Blessed John-Paul, and his predecessors, linked the duty of public officials, and the threats to the inviolable rights of the person, to the darkest times of recent European history. 

We do not know what the consequences of refusing to sign this law will be for you or for the Belgian monarchy. We know that your esteemed forebear King Baudouin stepped down from the throne temporarily when he nobly refused to confirm a pro-abortion law in 1990. We would urge you to do all in your power to protect Belgium’s children from this latest attack.  Even if your refusal to authorise this law has profound consequences for the future of the Belgian monarchy, we urge you to consider what future proposals you or your successor may face in another 25 years if this law is not resisted now with maximum determination.

We pray that you will have wise advisers in this difficult time.  If we can assist you in any way in resisting this law we should be honoured to do so. 

We have the honour to be, Sire, Your Majesty's humble and obedient servants,

John Smeaton, Chief Executive

Robin Haig, Chairman

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More evidence for why Fr Timothy Radcliffe should be cancelled by Dublin's Divine Mercy conference

Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P.

Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P. has issued a statement in response to calls by concerned Catholics, including myself, for this weekend's Divine Mercy Conference in Dublin to cancel his appearance due to his dissent from Catholic teaching on sexual ethics. Deacon Nick Donnelly of the excellent Protect the Pope blog has already detailed Fr Radcliffe's unorthodox contribution to the Church of England's Pilling review on homosexuality, and Kathy Sinnott and Fr Dominic Allain have taken apart that contribution in an edition of Kathy's Celtic Connections radio programme on EWTN.

In his statement on the Divine Mercy Conference website, Fr Radcliffe admits that:

"I have presided occasionally at Masses which were intended to be especially welcoming to gay people."

The Masses in question are the infamous Soho gay Masses. Fr Radcliffe goes on to claim that:

"There are no grounds at all for regarding these Masses as gatherings of dissenters from the Church’s teaching."

Fr Radcliffe's claim is demonstrably false - there is a mountain of evidence that those Masses were precisely "gatherings of dissenters from the Church’s teaching" - see my blog-posts of 25 Aug. 2010,  9 Sep. 2010, 13 Dec. 2010 and 7 Jan. 2012 ) Fr Radcliffe himself gave words of succour to those dissenters in his sermons to them. On 7 May 2004, The Catholic Herald reported that Fr Radcliffe "has presided over a Mass for London's gay Catholics." The paper also reported that Fr Radcliffe told a recent convert that he "must understand that he has joined with all sorts of people whose opinions on homosexuality may differ widely." The paper quoted Fr Radcliffe saying that:

"You are becoming one with all sorts of people with whom you may profoundly disagree, and who may appear to reject your sexual orientation and much that you may hold dear ... [such as] Cardinal Ratzinger".

And in a sermon on 18 August  2010 at the Soho Mass, Fr Radcliffe complained that:

"Every statement that comes from the Vatican seems to provoke more misunderstanding, more embarrassment, more frustration. My indignation with what the Vatican says is only exceeded by my indignation at its wilful misrepresentation by the press."

In a 10 March 2012 article in The Tablet entitled "Can marriage ever change", Fr Radcliffe wrote:

"This is not to denigrate committed love of people of the same sex. This too should be cherished and supported, which is why church leaders are slowly coming to support samesex civil unions. The God of love can be present in every true love."

In a 26 November 2005 article in The Tablet entitled "Can gays be priests?" Fr Radcliffe interpreted the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's document on "Persons with homosexual tendencies and the priesthood". Criticising Fr Radcliffe's interpretation, Fr Alphonsus de Valk wrote that:

"The article has done a disservice to the Church...by attempting to deconstruct the Vatican warnings ... In unjustly deriding the Vatican warnings, Fr. Radcliffe has given succor to other detractors."

In 2006, Fr Radcliffe joined Britain's leading dissenting Catholics in contributing an essay to "Opening up: Speaking out in the Church", a book of essays produced as a tribute to Martin Pendergast, one of Britain's leading Christian homosexual activists and one of the organisers of the Soho gay Masses. The book was co-edited by Julian Filochowski, Pendergast's civil partner, and Peter Stanford, another notorious dissenter from Catholic sexual ethics.

On 10 July 2009, Fr Radcliffe gave a talk to a Catholic parish in Mashpee, Massachusetts, in which he said:

"It's not that sexual ethics are particularly important. I don't think they are" (video at 8min40sec)

and

"We have to find ways of promoting our vision of the Christian family so as we can have a context within which to raise children, another generation; but we have to do it in a way which doesn't trash the relationships that people actually have" (video at 1min)

This echoes Fr Radcliffe's words in:

• a 28 January 2006 article in The Tablet ("How to discover what we believe") in which he wrote:

"[S]hould the Church accommodate her teaching to the experience of our contemporaries or should we stick by our traditional sexual ethics and risk becoming a fortress Church, a small minority out of step with people’s lives? Neither option seems right ... I confess that I do not know the answer."

• a  keynote address to a US religious education conference, in which he was reported as saying:

“We accompany people in friendship as they become moral agents. Let’s look at the gays. For some reason--I don’t actually understand why--it’s become a very hot topic in all the churches at the moment. It’s tearing the Church of England apart. It’s the cause of great dissension in our own church. Usually when we think about it, we ask, ‘What is forbidden or permitted?’ But I’m afraid I’m an old-fashioned and traditional Catholic, and I believe that’s the wrong place to start. We begin by standing by gay people as they hear the voice of the Lord that summons them to life and happiness. We accompany them as they wrestle with discovering what this means and how they must walk. And this means letting our imaginations be stretched open to watching Brokeback Mountain, reading gay novels, having gay friends, making that leap of the heart and the mind, delighting in their being, listening with them as they listen to the Lord.”

In March 2012, Stephen Hough, a concert pianist who is openly practising homosexual Catholic, argued in favour of same-sex marriage in a blogpost on The Telegraph website, in which he said:

"I am heartened by Father Timothy Radcliffe's article in The Tablet which tries to place marriage and partnerships from a Catholic viewpoint in a clearer perspective. As the former head of the Dominican Order worldwide, he is the most senior churchman to offer a revisionist view on this issue ... If Fr. Radcliffe's lone voice were a united choir from the bishops worldwide the Church might be in a better position to discuss this issue and make a valuable contribution."

Fr Radcliffe has a problem understanding and accepting the concept of obedience, both to the truth and to the Magisterium which proclaims that truth:

• During his 2009 Mashpee talk, he said that the Catholic Church "tends to be addicted to the culture of control" (video at 3min40sec).
• In an article in The Catholic Herald on 2 December 2005, ("A wound to the Body of Christ"), Fr Radcliffe complained that Catholics during the Counter-Reformation "had to toe the party line, to stick to precise formulations of dogmatic positions".
• In an article in The Catholic Herald on 10 December 2006, writer Raymond Edwards described Fr Radcliffe as the "darling of English progressives" and criticised what he described as Fr Radcliffe's "misunderstanding of the role of the Church's Magisterium" and his "agnosticism" regarding sexual ethics.

Again, during his 2009 Mashpee talk, Fr Radcliffe was asked about relations between the Catholic Church and the newly-elected President Barack Obama. He replied (video at 9mins28secs) that:

"I think that the most important thing is to have a mutually-respectful dialogue with President Obama. He is a very bright man. I have to say that when he was elected, in England you cannot believe the excitement we had. And I believe that he is a man with whom the Church can be in dialogue, on all sorts of issues."

Fr Radcliffe then called to the stage Professor Thomas Groome to speak as an expert on the Church's "dialogue" with Mr Obama. As LifeSiteNews.com has detailed, Professor Groome is a leading dissenter from Catholic teaching within the world of Catholic education. Cardinal George Pell has banned his books within the Archdiocese of Sydney. Professor Groome said (video at 0mins40secs)  that:

• Obama "on many, many issues, really embraces Catholic social teaching"
• "many Catholics would not be in favour" of banning all abortions
• banning all abortions would be "to send abortions back to the back-alleys of our country"
• Obama is "deeply committed to reducing the numbers of abortions"
• Catholics "can work with" Obama on the abortion issue.

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New guidance to warn abortion clinics that gender selection is illegal

Top stories:

New guidance to warn abortion clinics that gender selection is illegal [Telegraph, 12 February]

Pro-life pregnancy counsellors "doing an heroic job", says SPUC 
Pro-life pregnancy counsellors are "doing an heroic job", says SPUC. SPUC was commenting  the light of The Telegraph newspaper's attack, in concert with pro-abortion campaigners, on crisis pregnancy centres manned by pro-life counsellors. Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, commented: "In our experience, on the whole, crisis pregnancy centres are doing an heroic job, in the face of concerted and deceitful opposition from representatives of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the avaricious abortion industry which the RCOG represents." [SPUC, 11 February]

John Smeaton, SPUC's chief executive, given major award
John Smeaton, SPUC's chief executive, has been given a major award. Mr Smeaton was given the 2013 Cardinal John J. O'Connor Pro-Life Award by the Pro-Life Commitee of Legatus www.legatus.org Legatus, founded in 1987, helps top-ranking Catholic executives become "ambassadors for Christ". The award was given in a ceremony at the 2014 Legatus Summit, held this past weekend in Orlando, Florida. The Legatus Pro-life Committee said that "John Smeaton’s long history of work with life issues dating back to 1975 provides him with a wealth of knowledge, experience and insight to effectively deal with present-day threats to human life". [SPUC, 11 February]

Other stories:

Abortion

• Assistant at Philadelphia abortion 'house of horrors' clinic gets 6-12 years [Mail, 12 February]
• Holy See UN rep calls for women's equality before birth [Independent Catholic News, 9 February]
• Planned Parenthood to pay $2 million for death in botched second-trimester abortion [Patheos, 8 February]
• Baby girl born with part of her brain outside her skull defies doctors to thrive [Mail, 5 February]

Embryology and stem cell research

• Grandfather with leukaemia given 18 months to live is saved by two babies'  umbilical cords [Mail, 12 February]

Euthanasia

• Protests as Belgium set to legalise euthanasia for children [Expatica, 12 February]
• Unable to guarantee medical care, the Quebec government turns to euthanasia [FinanzNachrichten, 12 February]

Sexual ethics

• Moscow bans adoptions of Russian kids in countries with same-sex marriages [Voice of Russia, 13 February]
• Have 800 women been killed by the Pill? The alarming dangers of taking so-called third generation contraceptives [Mail, 13 February]

General

• My message to US Catholic leaders was well-received [John Smeaton, 12 February]
• A range of tributes to Alison Davis [Alison Davis 1955-2013]
• Michael Coren, Fr John Zuhlsdorf and myself at the Legatus Summit, Orlando, Florida [John Smeaton, 8 February]
• Dublin's Divine Mercy conference defends invitation to Fr Timothy Radcliffe, dissenter from Catholic teaching on sexual ethics [John Smeaton, 7 February]
• Nigerian archbishop condemns Western pressure on Africa on pro-life/pro-family issues [Catholic News Service of Nigeria, 7 February]

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My message to US Catholic leaders was well-received

My visit to Russia's UN delegation:
Peter Smith, one of SPUC's chief UN
lobbyists, is on the right

I'm travelling back to the UK today after a three-week working visit to the United States. I met a number of pro-life leaders, either in their offices or at the Legatus Summit, as well as Archbishop Chullikatt and members of the Holy See's delegation to the United Nations. I also met (introduced by Peter Smith, one of SPUC's chief UN lobbyists) the Russian delegation to the UN (pictured) and I congratulated them on recent legislation in Russia to ban advertising abortion services.

I was honoured to receive the Cardinal John J O'Connor Award from Legatus and am pleased to have received some kind and positive comments about the talks I gave: here are a couple of reports from LifeSiteNews.com:

• Deny communion to pro-abort politicians: Legatus pro-life award winner to world’s bishops
• Legatus Summit blew us away

Tom Monaghan (Legatus founder), Josephine Smeaton (John's wife), John Smeaton, Mike Faricy (Legatus board)

Finally, I wish to pause and reflect on the Gospel from this past Sunday Mass, which was from St Matthew, chapter 5:13-16. Here is the same Gospel but starting at verse 10 and ending half-way through verse 13:

"Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you. You are the salt of the earth."

These words of our Lord, persecuted so cruelly Himself, seem to me to apply very aptly to the pro-life counsellors who were attacked this week so hypocritically by the mainstream media and their orchestrators in the pro-abortion lobby. We must let pro-life counsellors know that they are the salt of the earth, blessed now on earth and promised great reward in heaven. I am also very proud of SPUC's team in London which issued a strong statement defending those counsellors and fighting back against the culture-of-death business. The statement is full of factual information, based on SPUC's nearly 50 years of experience.

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Pro-life pregnancy counsellors are doing an heroic job

SPUC has commented the light of The Telegraph newspaper's attack, in concert with pro-abortion campaigners, on crisis pregnancy centres manned by pro-life counsellors.

Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, told the media today:

"SPUC does not run crisis pregnancy centres, but we encourage such efforts and provide some groups with literature telling accurately about what abortion does to women and babies. Our literature is backed up with medical evidence. In our experience, on the whole, crisis pregnancy centres are doing an heroic job, in the face of concerted and deceitful opposition from representatives of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the avaricious abortion industry which the RCOG represents.

The counselling centres are helping hundreds of women to avoid abortion, and playing a significant part in reducing the abortion rate. Many of them not only provide counselling but practical support - something which none of the abortion agencies do. Also, unlike abortionists, these counselling centres  do not receive NHS funding contingent on the outcome of the services they provide.

Doctors falsify statutory abortion forms on a routine basis, with the connivance of the RCOG and the Department of Health. This enriches abortion merchants such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), out of the deaths of over 500 babies every day. Dishonest doctors are raking in huge fees, and are jealous of those groups who are snatching potential victims away from them.

Dr Kate Guthrie of the RCOG told The Telegraph that there is 'absolutely no evidence that abortions lead to an increased risk of breast cancer'. Dr Guthrie's statement is simply not true. Although the evidence is not conclusive, it is voluminous. For example, in November last year a meta-analysis of 36 studies of the possible abortion-breast cancer link among Chinese females found a 44% increased risk of breast cancer after one or more abortions, 76% increased risk after two abortions or more, and 89% increaseed risk after 3 or more abortions.  Although this does not prove that abortion causes breast cancer, for a doctor to deny that such evidence exists is irresponsible, and to try to stop women finding out about suggests a profound commitment to promoting abortion."

References:

• Dr Yubei Huang et al., A meta-analysis of the association between induced abortion and breast cancer risk among Chinese females, Cancer Causes Control  DOI 10.1007/s10552-013-0325-7, November 2013 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10552-013-0325-7
• Anthony McCarthy, Open Letter to the British Humanist Association and Education for Choice in response to allegations made about SPUC’s education programme, 25 May 2012 https://www.spuc.org.uk/documents/papers/humanists20120525 (this letter contains further references to evidence linking abortion to breast cancer, as well to infertility and to psychiatric harm).

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Michael Coren, Fr John Zuhlsdorf and myself at the Legatus Summit, Orlando, Florida

Yesterday I was delighted to meet Michael Coren and Fr John Zuhlsdorf at the 2014 Legatus Summit being held in Orlando, Florida:

Michael is a high-profile Catholic writer, public speaker, radio host and television talk show host, based in Canada and originally from Essex.

Fr John is one of the world's leading Catholic bloggers and well-known to faithful pro-life/pro-family Catholics in the UK and worldwide.

Our number one topic of conversation was the absurd report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child berating the Catholic Church for not promoting abortion, contraception, etc.

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Dublin's Divine Mercy conference defends invitation to Fr Timothy Radcliffe, dissenter from Catholic teaching on sexual ethics

Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P.

As readers may recall, I and other concerned pro-life/pro-family Catholics have objected to the invitation to Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P. to speak at Dublin's Divine Mercy conference on 22/23 February. Fr Radcliffe is well-known as a veteran dissenter from Catholic teaching on sexuality. Deacon Nick Donnelly of the excellent "Protect the Pope" blog has detailed Fr Radcliffe's dissent. The conference's organising committee has issued a statement (see below) defending the invitation to Fr Radcliffe. The statement emphasises the committee's assertion that they

"stand with the Church in all matters of faith and morals"

which begs the question: If that is so, why are they inviting and defending someone who clearly does not "stand with the Church in all matters of faith and morals"?

STATEMENT FROM THE DIVINE MERCY COMMITTEE

What does the Lord require of us?

            “To act justly and to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God”                                                                                                                                                                                      Micah 6:8

The nature of devotion in the history of Catholic spirituality is that it is clearly centred on reverence and respect:  reverence for God and the things of God and respect for our neighbour and the things of our neighbour. These are two qualities which are commended by St. Faustina:

           

“As for you be always merciful to other people and especially towards sinners”   (SFD 1446).

“On the cross the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls - no one have I excluded.” (SFD 1182).

Following inquiries with appropriate Church authorities we have invited  Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P. to address the Divine Mercy Conference in Dublin on the theme “OUR FATHER…THY WILL BE DONE” on Saturday 22^nd and Sunday 23^rd February, 2014. Fr. Radcliffe is a respected and much sought after international speaker on scripture and spirituality. He works closely with Church leaders on an international level and we believe he will have an important message to share with us.

Through this statement, we wish to acknowledge all those who expressed concern or had reservations , and we want to assure all who participate in the Divine Mercy Movement that in line with St Faustina’s teaching,  we stand with the Church in all  matters of faith and morals as faithful disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In keeping with St. Faustina’s  message the purpose of the Conference is to glorify God’s Mercy and encourage fidelity to the Catholic Church in these difficult times.   

We would like to conclude with these words of St. Faustina’:

            “Love is a mystery that transforms everything it touches into things beautiful and pleasing to God,” (SFD, 890).

Please pray for the Conference and pray for the victory of LOVE in the world.

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My meeting in New York with the papal nuncio to the United Nations

This week I am working with Peter Smith, one of SPUC's chief lobbyists at the United Nations in New York. During my visit I had the honour of meeting Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the papal nuncio, to discuss the growing presence of pro-abortion organisations at the UN:

Today I launched an appeal to pro-life groups worldwide to join our experienced lobbying team to fight against US, British and EU policy of promoting the legalisation of abortion in every country of the world.

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